#shakespeare in love 2

[aq2003]

david tennant + shakespeare

[kayshasiemens]

Rising from the dead to share this painting and then disappear again

I have spent over 90 hours of my life on this thing because I have had the brain rot for the last 2 years of my life (almost 20 if you count when I first read the comics) and it had to express itself somehow

Hope this dramatic bitch feels appreciated

(A Dream of Morpheus, handmade egg tempera on panel, 12x18 inches...if by any chance you'll be at SDCC or Gen Con, I'll be at booth 934/936 at the first one and Art Show #13 at the second one - come see the original, maybe get a print, or just yell/cry about Sandman with me?)

And here, have some more details - I had fun combining some favorite elements from both the comic and the show ♡

[fakemichaelsheen]

-the theatre, 1597-

aziraphale, wiping tears: what did you think?

crowley: ...

aziraphale: did you not like it?

crowley, hesitates: weeell...

aziraphale, sighs: what was wrong with this one?

crowley, shrugs: I don't know. it was all so...depressing. I mean, they were kids, angel

aziraphale, rolls his eyes: it's romantic

crowley: it's morbid

aziraphale, shakes his head: yes but it's about the star crossed lovers. the forbidden love. the tragedy. two feuding families. you wouldn't understand

crowley: *stares at him*

crowley, incredulous: sorry, did you seriously just say that?

aziraphale, oblivious: yes. so?

crowley, sighs: nothing *takes his arm* come on, let's get out of here

aziraphale, smiles: yes, I believe I owe you a drink. for coming with me

crowley, nods: several, I should think

aziraphale: it wasn't that bad

crowley, glares at him: dead kids, angel

aziraphale, agreeing: yes, I see your point

[vaguely-concerned]

the barista lady in the treviso café fucking giggles every time you buy the fancy coffee lucanis likes from her btw. can't believe the game is calling out rook and me like this

[arthursfuckinghat]

God guys I'm really in the trenches with thinking about Mary and Arthur and how utterly tragic they are.

After so many years of no contact, Arthur only meets Mary three times throughout the span of the story, three times where they talked about love and regret and pain and wishing things were different. Three times was all it took to officially break both of their hearts again, and one broken forever into the grave.

They wanted to run away, they wanted to run away and be happy, they wanted to be together again, they wanted it so badly and it was just so out of reach.

The last thing Arthur ever did with Mary was take her to the theatre, the last thing Mary ever did with Arthur was give back the engagement ring he had given her.

Because Arthur wanted to marry her.

Arthur wanted to marry her and run away with her and forget their families and make a life together.

But Mary didn't get a letter back, she didn't hear anything from Arthur, maybe she hoped that Arthur had moved on too, but Arthur died and had been dead the whole time. Mere days or weeks after she sent that letter, Arthur died.

How utterly soul destroying would the guilt and pain be after finding that out? That the last thing you did with the love of your life was write about how you're ready to move on days before they died? How she wrote about never forgiving herself for falling back in love with Arthur again when he was alive, but now he's dead? He's dead and there's so many things she'll never be able to take back or write about again, now she's all alone without even Arthur to help her even when she felt horrible for asking in the first place, now she will have to grieve instead of trying to move on like she promised, god you guys.

[kaitcake1289]

hand to hold

[the-ineffable-dance]

Holy Palmers Kiss

Throughout their history together, the romance between Aziraphale and Crowley has mostly been expressed through incredibly subtle ways. It's been centuries (if not millennia) of nothing more obvious than a surreptitious brushing of hands or yearning looks when they think no one is watching. And of course, when they have plenty of deniability.

Good work, Aziraphale... hand on the chest of the Thin Dark Duke, and if anyone asked, you were just making sure that young lady didn't get bumped.

And this is for a very good reason. It quite literally isn't safe for them to be openly romantic with one another, even now. Demons like Hastur and Shax are constantly popping up... Michael and Uriel are always watching... eyes are everywhere.

They have certainly gotten closer to being open in the years that separate the two seasons. Crawley sprawls all over that bookshop like he has a personal vendetta against chairs - removes his glasses as soon as he steps foot inside (which is an incredibly coded action that I would love to take a more in depth look at in the future) - gives up the keys to the Bently... And Aziraphale himself has those longing looks - calls him up to talk enough that Crowley knows his "tones of voice" - and then, we get The Ball.

Technically, The Ball is for Nina and Maggie... or at least that's what Aziraphale says. We get the lovely little moment in the pub where he and Crowley try to come up with the best ways to get humans to fall in love with each other. But the moment Aziraphale mentions Jane Austen having characters dancing with each other and realizing how in love they were, I think at least for him the focus changes to this... THE BALL IS FOR CROWLEY. And once he starts giving away books to make sure the ball will be perfect, there can be no question. The entire idea is a way for him to be able to dance with Crowley.

That's why, for me, the most romantic moment in all of Good Omens, at least from Aziraphale's point of view, is this moment right here.

Vavoom! Sorted! Look at the way Crowley even curls his fingers around Aziraphale's hand! This is peak Aziraphale romance as a fan of Jane Austen.

But he's also a fan of Shakespeare. Even the gloomy ones. And every time I watch this scene, I'm reminded of a different ball from one of the gloomy plays that Crowley would hate and Aziraphale would swoon over. Romeo and Juliet. A fitting parallel to an angel and a demon being in love.

In Romeo and Juliet, at the end of the first act, is another ball. Romeo tries to get Juliet to kiss him, and she turns him down with this...

"For saints have hands that pilgrim's hands do touch/ And palm to palm is holy palmer's kiss"

There's quite the back and forth here between Juliet and her Romeo about hands and lips and such, (and eventually Romeo gets his way) but the parallel for Aziraphale in this exchange is unmistakable. He, as the angel, is the saint (and stand in for Juliet), Crowley his pilgrim. Snogging in public would be absolutely out of the question for our dear prim and proper Aziraphale... but this is a chaste kiss, and one that he is showing the world. A public declaration of his love for Crowley. A Holy Palmer's Kiss.

It's certainly debatable if Crowley would have picked up on it. Like a lot of their coded language there are times when one of them misses what the other is trying to say. But in my opinion, this was not only a public declaration, but his confession to Crowley. This is his "I love you" as much as "I forgive you" is.

Just for fun, here's how Romeo finally gets his kisses (but let's have Crowley stand in for Romeo and Aziraphale for Juliet, shall we?)

Cro. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged. (They kiss)

Azi. Then have my lips the sin that they have took.

Cro. Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged. Give me my sin again. (They kiss again)

[vinca-majors]

don john + text posts [2]

[romance-club-daily]

Romance Club Books's recap! while we wait for the new update~

November/2024 | Credits to: @nvta_rc on SpoilerAreWithUs (Telegram)~

DRACULA: A STORY OF LOVE Istanbul is enveloped in darkness. The heroine and Mehmed, who has taken her, play a game: they eat lukum and answer each other's questions when they find a nut. So the girl learns that Mehmed is the same sultan from the past, he did not die and was not reborn. Then the heroes go to the mosque, where Mehmed leaves the girl, and soon after she is found by Noe. Then we are transported to the past and see how Vlad by cunning and with the help of dark forces defeated the much superior Ottoman army and almost took Mehmed's life, but at the last moment he was stopped by Radu. Then, once again in the present, the heroine realises that in the here and now Vlad could not control his anger and went in search of Mehmed…

HELL AND HIGH WATER Fortunately, the team manages to avoid mines located right on the water. Without deviating from their course, they continue their journey - they talk casually, cook and even meet an orca. But the cosy evening does not end well: right in the middle of the night the protagonist is awakened by the uneven movements of the yacht and the wind moaning outside. Hastily dressing, the girl hears Chand's warning shout, and then the power of the entire water element falls on them. The waves overtake the ship time after time, until finally the terrible thing happens - the element takes away one of the crew members, the dearest to the heart of the heroine, finally and irrevocably. The search continues into the morning, but is unsuccessful, and the coming morning brings no relief. The night storm leaves a salty and corrosive wound of irreparable loss on the heroine's soul…

SONG OF THE CRIMSON NILE Ramesses tells everything he knows about Saamon: he is a very powerful oneiromancer who can kill in his sleep, is close to Pharaoh and is probably hiding in the palace right now. In a strange coincidence, Livius's mentor has a certain Saamon working for him. It is also strange that Pharaoh is afraid of oneiromancers and keeps only necromancers in the palace. But there are no shesmu practising two directions at once. Livius writes a message to his mentor, asking about Saamon. At that moment Seth returns and says that he knows how Eva can communicate with the dead Isman - she needs to get to the Duat. To do this, she will need the help of her friends…

CHASING YOU 2 The protagonist and Sam arrive at the royal treasury from where the tiara was stolen. But no serious evidence, except for rat droppings, is found. Rachel learns that not long ago the commander of the guards got drunk in a pub with two handsome guards. In the evening, the heroine goes at Ezra's invitation to a closed men's club, where he, along with the entertainment collects information. Ezra knows about the kidnapping of the Queen's tiara and encourages the girl to chat with the poor in the slums of London. On her way there she meets the twins and in their company she finds a poor thief pretending to be a dead man, and among his stolen goods is the Queen's tiara. Sensing a catch in everything that has happened, at night the heroine goes to meet the twins, who suddenly start talking about the death of the police commissioner...

W: TIME CATCHER Praevius moves all of the Conductor's power into Nova and partially into Shen, who tried to save her. After that, they lose control of their Presence. Getting out of the Vatican is impossible even after Lucien appears. A fight ensues with the hunters, among whom is Grigorov. He shoots the heroine and at that moment she is covered by Renato. At the last second, Shen still manages to teleport everyone, including the wounded Renato, out of the Vatican. The Alliance, along with the Archivist, immediately set about rescuing Nova and Shen - the Guide's power is placed in a secure facility. The team then returns to the search for the Source. The heroes determine the next place of research - the castle of Catherine de Medici, Blois, but at this moment Vesper brings sad news - right now Renato, never recovered from his wounds, dies…

KALI: FLAME OF SAMSARA Devi has a strange vision of Clara Swinford choking on her own blood. In an attempt to learn more about herself, she turns to Ram - and the latter performs a ritual, putting Devi into a trance where the girl sees scraps of memories of her past lives and the India-British wars, where constant and horrific sacrifices on India's part were in vain. Devi is pulled away from thoughts of her homeland by current affairs - de Clare and the entire Indian delegation have the honour of being invited to a ball at Swinford Manor. After a long assembly and the first dance with her fiancé, the heroine manages to slip into the depths of the estate, socialise with the guests and learn that the Swinfords are among the largest importers of opium. Doran and Kamal are also busy ferreting out English secrets - they illegally sneak into Swinford's study. Eventually, something draws Devi to a virtually empty wing of the estate, where she meets Clara. A brief altercation, the glint of a knife in the moonlight… and Devi's vision comes true. Clara is dead. The maid, a girl from India, helps Devi hide the evidence and mentions Samsara in the conversation, and Devi hears the voice of the newly alive Clara Swinford behind her back. Alarmed, the heroine runs out into the fresh air, where she meets Saraswati. Their conversation is interrupted by eerie screams from the direction of the estate; Sarah begins to speak in a voice that is not her own, her eyes lighting up red. A frightened and uncomprehending Devi suddenly notices drops of blood on her hem and realises that a murder has indeed taken place and that Clara Swinford is dead….

GARDEN OF EDEN MC and Minhyuk are baffled by a phone call that is answered not by words, but by a piercing melody played on a violin. But MC can't devote herself to solving the mystery, as her every day is packed to the minute. After a difficult conversation with Castiel's father, who insists on stopping any relationship, even a friendly one, between his son and Jiyun, the heroine has to go to the filming of the series, record a new song with Leah and have a fun cam. Only Eden does not let anyone go so easily - right during the meeting with the fans a young man with terrible scars on his face threatens the girl on behalf of the club. But she won't be intimidated so easily and MC starts to try harder than ever to get an invitation to a mysterious restaurant that is rumoured to be connected to Eden. Castiel makes a new suggestion: maybe Eden is just a revenge on Cas for the fact that he once managed to escape from them? Then MC, as Castiel's only love, is definitely in danger. The girl demands heavy security from the agency, but right on the stage, while taking part in the show ‘Queendom’, she notices in the front row the very crazy man with creepy scars. Meanwhile, Lin, under the influence of medication and following Eden's instructions, disrupts her own band's concert. Is this really the end of RK3? Lin is led away from the stage, but that doesn't stop him from breaking into the agency and attacking MC in front of Donghyun. The former RK3 leader is led away by security, and then the same classic tune that was on the phone found in Miyeon's possession comes out of the psychologist's laptop….

SOULLESS Vincent, Threxio(a) and the protagonist fly to the ancient Starling Archive. In the abandoned village in front of the magic-sealed entrance, they meet Xanthea, who also wants to enter the archive. Vincent allows her to join them, before binding her with a blood oath. Xanthea finds a piece of crystal in the archives, combines it with two others and obtains the powerful Abyssalite artefact. But her actions are a violation of her oath, and Xanthea burns up in front of everyone, then is reborn from the ashes. It turns out she is the Primordial, a demon who creates other demons. And she also created the protagonist, but the latter is a mistake because she can feel and is able to infect other demons near her with her feelings. And Xanthea's enemy, who needs Abyssalite to fight her, is the Veil itself. Xanthea leaves, locking Vincent, Threxio(a) and the demoness in the archives. The company finds Vincent's ancestor's secret room, takes all the records from there and, using all their powers, teleports home. A few days later, we meet Elliot, who says that the heroine's last client has gone missing, and charges her…

HEAVEN'S SECRET: REQUIEM The squad makes it to the train that takes them to Oxford. The heroes finally get to the Adam base and meet Donovan. From Ian's words, the pastor in the church on the base may know something about the Order and the heroine goes to talk to him. At night in her room she wakes up from a noise in the corridor and discovers a sign of the Order on the door and the inscription ‘We know who you are’ made in blood. Based on information from the pastor, the girl learns the approximate location of an estate where a man with ties to the Order used to live. The squad heads there. On the way, the car is attacked by the infected. Trying to help Lester, the heroine finds herself in danger, but at the last moment she is saved by a mysterious demon hunter. It seems that he is the very person connected with the Order….

ASTREA'S BROKEN HEART The heroine meets the bosses, and they send her with the team to exorcise a demon, so that she can fully familiarise herself with the real work of ‘Astrea’. David conducts a rite of exorcism, but the possessed girls can not be saved. The appraiser returns to the agency, where she meets Raphael and realises that she begins to get used to him little by little. At night she continues to have nightmares, and in the morning she finds bruises on her neck and arms. Taking it for auto-aggression, the girl hurries to Malek to give her a hypnosis session and help her remember what she has forgotten. In a state of trance she remembers everything, and also, without knowing it, gives the professor information about her purpose. After that, together with Felonia, the heroine goes to the victim's sister from the club, and then meets Mikael, who confirms the fact that Raphael is an angel, and also tells that David, Felonia and Cassiel are demons, and Mikael himself is an archangel. The tired heroine goes to bed and has another nightmare….

7 BROTHERS The heroine talks to Jasper, trying to trick him into finding out where he gets his drugs to sell. He calls her to a club to introduce her to the supplier, and after the show he invites her to his new loft for a party. The address shocks the girl, as it is her and Ray's former home. When she returns to Rosewood, the heroine finds the door to her room broken down, her belongings scattered and all her underwear missing. Later it turns out that this is the work of bitchy Sophie, who later tries to make the heroine look bad at a pool party. There she finds out that Jasper is taking drugs to sell to people from Father Grant's drugstore chain. At night she goes to Ray's house, but before she gets there, she witnesses an attempt to shoot a man. Hoping to get away from the police, the heroine says that she works for the FBI, but the information is not confirmed. The whole next day the idea that the agents are not agents at all, and her brother is in danger, does not leave her head. Carter makes contact from an unknown number and reports that he is in Seattle, where he was brought by force in a truck. While contemplating how to help her brother, the girl suddenly finds herself pinned to the ground by a real jaguar…

AND THE HAZE WILL TAKE US Vereya, who appeared in a dream, shows MC the stone hidden deep in the forest and tells her to find it. In the morning, the whole village gathers at the border with the fog, because Vereya's murderer has supposedly been found - it is Milon. He is driven out of the village into the mist. The heroine turns to Volot with a request to teach her priesthood. Together with the apprentice, all the priests and the magician go to the ancient bones of the gods. Ozar tells her dream - the village is destined to burn. Returning after her apprenticeship, the girl sees her deceased sister in the window of the house, which is also clearly seen by Hanna - looking at Vereya, she utters: ‘Mo-rock (I don't remember what was the word for this on english version)’. The heroine tells the priests that she sees Vereya's spirit. Everyone goes to the forest to perform a ritual to exorcise the spirit, but instead something from the mist briefly takes possession of the heroine's consciousness. During the night, a thunderstorm begins, and a dead man's hand appears from a boarded-up hut in the cemetery…

THE THUNDERSTORMS SAGA After a fight with a dragon rider, an elven woman kills him and then discovers his magical bracelet on her arm. After a cold night in the gorge, she is found and rescued by Sha'arnez, who brings her to the palace of Emperor Ro'od. The girl barely has time to recover and clean herself up before she is thrown into the dungeon. The brother of the deceased comes to see her, and the elf comes to realise that this is his revenge. Having gone through beatings and humiliation, the young noblewoman still appears before the ruler of the Ro'od Empire - Foelh ea Eini Lono Ved Vain Firkain, who sentences her to death. The girl is saved from execution by Prince Tai, asking her father for her. In the evening, after inviting the heroine to his chambers, the prince explains his act by saying that he wants to use the girl to make peace between the Ro'od Empire and the Eshai after all, making the Eshai a dragon rider. As she contemplates her conversation with the prince, the noblewoman wants to go for a walk, but instead the guards take her back to the dungeon, where in her former cell lies the disfigured corpse of the guard who tortured her….

SHAKESPEARE'S CODE A few years ago, magic awakened in a girl who was sent to be executed. At the moment of her ejection, an ancient creature also awoke, which became for the heroine not only a Master and mentor of magic, but also a curse. Now the witch receives a task to get into a closed hospital for the nobility - St. Bartholomew's Hospital. There serves a descendant of a Protestant priest who years ago shared M's memories and imprisoned her in artefacts. At the same moment, the girl is hired for service by Lord Dudley, directly related to the Queen, asking for help in investigating the murders of young boys near the asylum. However, arriving at the place, the heroine is attacked by a dark phantom at night, and the morning becomes a witness to another murder…

[raayllum]

Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

(Julius Caesar, 1.2.146), Cassius to Brutus

[romanceclub-polls]

What ongoing story that isn't currently in the top 10 do you think deserves to be there the most?

W: Time Catcher

The Thunderstorms Saga

Shakespeare's Code (I know it literally JUST started lol)

Love, Sin & Evil

Chasing You 2

7 Brothers

Dracula: A Love Story

Hell and High Water

Love From Outer Space

[agentravensong]

sometimes i think about how fully absent horatio is from r&g are dead even though one of the primary reasons for ros & guil’s existence in hamlet is as obvious negative parallels to him (see pages 42-3 of horatio’s hamlet for more on that);

and i think of those meta takes about how hamlet both starts and ends with horatio because he’s the one burdened with telling the story, and how it brings everything full circle;

and i think about horatio’s appearance at the end of r&g are dead. how, in this context, he’s putting the bow on a story that was by no means his to tell — one he may even severely misrepresent depending on your read / the staging of “he never gave commandment for their death” — but a story whose two protagonists exist in the shadow he casts, and cannot escape it.

a story that’s, in a sense, haunted by him: the “better” version of ros and guil (“we didn’t do anything wrong, did we?” ros asks, and the answer is everything and nothing) who wouldn’t have suffered this terrible fate (horatio’s being a different flavor of tragedy); the version that, if he were ever shown on stage with them, would be an even more obvious signal than the title of the show itself that the two of them were failures, and written to be that way.

and then sometimes i start thinking about a version of r&g are dead that has ros and guil interact with horatio. the one who actually understands hamlet (the man) but still can’t sway his or the story’s course; who gets to see how things play out, but in witnessing and knowing it also knows for a fact how pointless it all was; who, unlike the two of them, is spared from death, but also therefore never gets to rest; who, like the two of them, will never not come when summoned, and yet finds himself ultimately reduced to a spectator (though in both hamlet and r&g are dead all spectators remain complicit).

they would have things to talk about, i think. if only they didn’t forget it all when “next time” rolls around.

[javierduffy]

drabble about chapter 3 javieran late night discord (campfire) conversations because i love writing the turning point where javier finally lets himself start making moves 💔☹️

“so,” javier gestures with his bottle, the last quarter of it sloshing to get his conversation partner’s attention, “tell me about yourself.”

“oh, i’m…” kieran fiddles with his hands, pries his eyes away from javier’s bottle as the other man takes a swig of it. if he let himself look any longer, they’d end up on his lips. “i’m just me, sir. just kieran duffy. ain’t got much to tell.”

“mh.” javier grunts a reply, and kieran would think that’d be the end of it, if not for the bottle thrust at him to punctuate the response. he thinks javier is just tipsy enough not to be offering essentially backwash on purpose. he hopes it is a kind gesture. he takes it and a swig to boot. rather not be drinking with a man so pretty, but he’d rather not be one to resist one, neither.

“”just” you say. what makes you so little?” javier’s beginning to pop another beer open on his seat. without the light of the moon, the scout campfire now feels like a long, long way from the clemen’s point camp, and he now feels like no one in the world could hear his curiosity. like not a soul in this world around could accuse him of gentility.

kieran, taking the new bottle as an offer to keep the old one, finishes off his drink. shakes his head like it’s bitter. like he isn’t trying to pick apart which taste is the beer and which is javier. “i ‘unno. suppose- no one’s cared so much before. i feel so little, i can’t say i feel right justified in going around and advertising myself. plenty of interesting folk around, and they sure don’t look like me.” javier cocks an eyebrow.

for once since months ago in colter, dark brown eyes meet green, and they stay there. grass plants it’s roots in rich soil, and it feels like home. kieran can see javier’s eyes flicker to his lips, and he convinces himself it meant nothing. uproots himself and looks back at the fire.

javier lets his eyes roam kieran’s profile a bit- his long lashes, his hooked nose, his sunspots- and suddenly he really, really needs another drink. he’s parched. he mirrors the other man’s fixation on the fire with another swig. “can’t say any of us nowadays look too alike. not unless you get the privilege of being born in the city, with money. every man has his story. if you think it is a competition, maybe you should consider yourself lucky that you haven’t lived enough chaos to be “interesting”.”

kieran snorts, “you don’t know the half of it… sir.” he tacks the term messily onto the sentence, hoping it’ll be enough to keep javier from strangling him to death for his tone. instead, he turns to see javier with a wide smile, drooping eyes creasing like a canine with it’s fangs bared. it makes kieran feel cold- like prey who yearns for the warm embrace of his predator’s breath on his neck.

“tell me then. what makes you so interesting and me so ignorant?”

[averlym]

some very very quick costume shorthands!

[besumins]

　　　　　✸ㅤㅤ⼂ㅤ ❪ ㅤyou & meㅤ ❫ ㅤㅤ 🕸 ㅤㅤꜝꜞ

[sebbys-mama]

Love is a familiar.

Love is a devil.

There is no evil angel but love.

-William Shakespeare